In June 1860, Millie Spangler headed a household located at the northwestern corner of present-day Liberty Street and Elizabeth Street. Millie was the widow of Jacob Spangler, and in 1860 lived with a 9 year old girl named Harriet, who may have been either her daughter or granddaughter. Like Margaret Gibson and Malinda Hall, she also worked as a washerwoman. 

 

Much more is known of Millie's husband's background than her own. Jacob Spangler was born a slave in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1783. As a youth, he was sold several times before being ultimately bought by Cuthbert Spangler of Harrisonburg. When Cuthbert removed to Indiana in the early 1820s, he was barred from bringing his slaves with him by Indiana state law and offered Jacob the opportunity to buy his freedom. On February 16, 1825, the two reached an agreement that allowed Jacob to purchase his freedom for $500, payable in annual installments. Cuthbert settled in Indiana, and Jacob was put under the custody of Harrisonburg merchant Joseph Fawcett until his manumission had been paid for in full.

 

Jacob was able to purchase his freedom only several months later in December 1825. However, once he became a free man he faced a unique new set of legal challenges. According to the 1806 "Act to Amend the Several Laws Concerning Slaves" passed by the state legislature:

 

And be it further enacted, That if any slave hereafter emancipated

shall remain within this commonwealth more than twelve months after

his or her right to freedom shall have accrued, he or she shall forfeit 

all such right, and may be apprehended and sold...

 

Because of this risk, Jacob Spangler petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for an exemption that would have allowed him to remain in Harrisonburg. Jacob argued that he had spent the majority of his life in and around Harrisonburg, and that he had a wife and friends in the city who were all enslaved that he did not wish to leave. Millie was likely his second wife, after the woman mentioned in his petition, due to her age. In appealing to the legislators' religious convictions, Jacob argued that it was un-Christian to force him to either leave his wife or be sold back into slavery after he had earned his freedom through his, "intelligence, honesty, and virtue" (emphasis in original text). One of the most interesting aspects of Jacob's petition is that he appears to have written it himself. Unlike other petitions written by African Americans in the antebellum era, he apparently signed his own name, rather than with an "x," and no other author is credited as having helped him. This is especially interesting due to the fact that it was techinically illegal for African Americans to know how to read or write in Virginia during this time period.

 

Luckily for Jacob, the legislature approved his petition and he was given permission to remain in Rockingham County. Following his emancipation, Jacob went to work for James and Caroline Hall, who were members of an elite white Harrisonburg family. While working for the Halls, Jacob moved into the home at the corner of Liberty Street and Elizabeth Street that the James Hall later sold to him in April 1830 for $290.

 

Jacob passed away by 1856 and the property was inherited by his sons, Preston and Whitefield. Although the two men technically owned the home after Jacob's death, Millie continued to live in the house, and was sold the property outright on July 16, 1860. It is unknown when Millie and Jacob married, and whether she was the mother or step-mother of Preston and Whitefield.

 

Unfortunately, there is no record of Millie's death, or what became of the property immediately afterwards. The area remained largely residential until the 1920s when a service station was constructed on the lot. This two-story Art Deco structure currently stands on the former Spangler home site.